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San Jose
980 South Bascom Avenue, San Jose, CA 95128
Phone: 408-292-1404
Santa Cruz
939 Pacific Avenue
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Phone: 831-421-9200
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One of the reasons Connie Francis was America's hands-down hottest female vocalist during the late `50s and early `60s was her extreme versatility.
She could do it all and then some, squeezing every ounce of emotion out of an old Tin Pan Alley tearjerker, credibly singing in several different languages, and belting red-hot rock and roll that enlivened many a dance floor.
This collection concentrates solely on the latter - 32 prime examples of Connie's beguiling way with up-tempo material that was aimed right at her worldwide teenage demographic.
Naturally, her best-known rockers are on board - Stupid Cupid (provided by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, with Neil on piano), Lipstick On Your Collar with its jaw-dropping George Barnes guitar ride, the boisterous 1962 Top Ten hit Vacation - but plenty of deeper catalog sides are on offer too.
An infectious cover of LaVern Baker's Tweedle Dee, the rousing Mr. Twister (co-written by future soul star Don Covay), a Sedaka/Greenfield-authored Baby Roo, the John D. Loudermilk-penned Hollywood and He's Just A Scientist, and a silly but undeniably fun Robot Man that was a huge 1960 British seller all demonstrate Francis' confident mastery of rock and roll (Francis wrote Plenty Good Lovin' and I Won't Be Home To You herself).